Gambling terms, explained straight

Online Gambling & Industry

Rakeback

A payment or credit a poker room gives back to a player based on the rake that player has paid.

Also called
rake back, cash back1
Regulatory treatment (UK)
Must not be counted in gross gambling yield; it is a cost of business, not a gambling transaction.1

Key points

  • A poker operator charges rake on play and returns some of that value to the player through a loyalty scheme.1
  • The Gambling Commission treats rakeback as a loyalty-scheme payment, not part of the gambling transaction.1

Common questions

What is rakeback in poker?

In poker, rakeback is a rebate paid to a player based on the rake they have generated. It is a loyalty scheme payment, not a gambling transaction.1

What is rakeback on ember?

Rakeback on Ember refers to the same concept: a payment returned to a player from the rake they generated. It functions as a loyalty rebate, not a stake or win.

Where this term is used

Online Rakeback poker Explains rakeback specifically in the context of online poker rooms. Online Rakeback bonus Covers promotional bonus structures that may be confused with rakeback. Online Rakeback slots Discusses whether rakeback applies to slot games, which is not the standard context. Online Rakeback bc game Describes rakeback as used on the BC.Game platform. Online Crypto casino Explains how cryptocurrency casinos operate and their typical features. Online RNG meaning Defines Random Number Generator and its role in online gambling.

Sources

  1. Reporting gross gambling yield (GGY) on regulatory returns gamblingcommission.gov.uk Defines rakeback as a loyalty rebate and explains its regulatory treatment in the UK.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.